Sony is likely to slash the price of PlayStation 3 at E3 in June in order to stimulate lagging sales, reckons analyst Michael Pachter.
Speaking in a March NPD preview, Pachter also reckons competitor Microsoft will unveil a price cut at the Los Angeles-based convention due to slowing sales.
"PS3 hardware sales should continue to lag those of the Xbox 360, and we expect sales to trend downward by 10 – 20% monthly, until Sony cuts prices once again, likely at E3," said Pachter.
"Recent slowing of Xbox 360 hardware sales could cause Microsoft to consider a price cut by E3."
Elsewhere, the Wedbush Morgan analyst doesn’t anticipate any next-gen console announcements this year.
"We do not expect an announcement of a next- generation console from Microsoft until the Xbox 360 core model is priced below $200, likely around this time next year."
Sony has been rumored to unveil plans for a successor to the PS3 at E3, though PlayStation overlord Kaz Hirai publicly denied any such plans are in the pipeline.